Moscow announces its readiness to deploy military observers

Azerbaijan bombs two sites inside Armenia and controls 8 new towns in "Karabakh"

  • Men stand by the rubble of their destroyed home in Nagorno Karabakh.

    Reuters

  • Sergey Lavrov: "Russia does not agree with Turkey on the possibility of a military solution to the conflict in the separatist region."

picture

Yesterday, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that it had bombed two missile launch sites inside Armenia in a precedent that raises fears of an escalation of the conflict in the Nagorno Karabakh region, despite the passage of five days after the announced truce, and Azerbaijan took control of eight new towns in the region, while Russia announced that it was ready to deploy Military observers along the front line to help ensure the truce holds.

For the first time, the Azerbaijani army announced that it had bombed two missile launch sites on the territory of Armenia, which, according to Baku, are being used to target Azerbaijan.

The spokeswoman for the Armenian Ministry of Defense, Shushan Stepanyan, confirmed that Armenian lands were exposed to bombing, but denied any intention to target civilian areas in Azerbaijan.

She added, "These allegations are baseless. The Armenian army now reserves the right to target any military facility and any combat operation on Azerbaijani lands."

In another statement, the Armenian army accused Azerbaijan of "seeking to expand the geographical area of ​​the conflict by attacking the sovereign territory of Armenia."

In addition, Azerbaijan has taken control of many towns in Nagorny Karabakh, within the framework of the conflict with Armenia over the region, according to what the two sides and the regional authorities announced yesterday.

The President of the Nagorno Karabakh region, Araik Harutyunyan, said in a statement that Azerbaijan was able to turn the front into positions deeper within the region.

The army in Armenia confirmed that the Azerbaijani forces managed to control more areas in the region, in the first acknowledgment by Yerevan of the progress made by the opponent.

For his part, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, confirmed yesterday that the separatist forces have retreated in the north and south of the front line.

"The situation is very dangerous," Pashinyan said.

He added in a video recording: "We must unite and stop the enemy."

For his part, Harutyunyan said in a video recording: "At some points, the enemy managed to penetrate the front line and penetrate into the depth."

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, tweeted on the social networking site "Twitter", saying that his country's army had seized eight villages in the region.

Baku explained that the Azerbaijani army is now in control of a total of 45 towns in Nagorno Karabakh, which the Armenian army had initially denied.

Footage on Azerbaijani TV showed scenes of street celebrations and fireworks.

An AFP correspondent reported that the small town of Bukharli in Azerbaijan was under regular bombardment yesterday.

Only 100 of the 800 families residing in it remained, most of whom were refugees who fled after the 1990s war.

On the separatist side, the capital, Stepanakert, was calm, yesterday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced, in an interview with local media, yesterday that Moscow is ready to deploy "military observers" along the front line to help ensure the endurance of the truce.

Lavrov emphasized that the Russian side does not agree with Ankara's position regarding the possibility of a military solution to the conflict in the separatist region, and said in an interview with the Russian agency "Sputnik": “Regarding Nagorny Karabakh and Turkey’s role, yes we do not agree with the position expressed by Turkey, In fact, which was expressed by the President of Azerbaijan several times, there is nothing to hide here. ”

He added, "We cannot share statements that there is a military solution to the conflict," and stressed that "the conflicting parties must organize immediate meetings to agree on a system to monitor the ceasefire."

In addition to a potential humanitarian crisis, the international community fears the conflict will be internationalized, with Turkey accused of sending pro-Turkish fighters from Syria to fight in the ranks of the Azerbaijani forces, which Ankara and Baku deny.

Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Nagorno Karabakh region, which has an Armenian majority, separated from Azerbaijan, after a war that left 30,000 people dead in the 1990s.

Baku accuses Armenia of occupying its lands, and armed confrontations have become regular in it.

The battles currently taking place are the most dangerous since the ceasefire declared in 1994.

After 30 years of diplomatic stalemate, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has pledged to regain control of the region by force if necessary.

The two sides exchange accusations about these new battles that left more than 600 people dead, according to a partial toll that is likely to be much higher, because Azerbaijan does not reveal the losses among its forces.

Since the start of the violence, each side asserts that it has inflicted heavy losses on the other side.

600

At least two people have died since the outbreak of the last fighting.

The Armenian government describes the situation as "very dangerous", and accuses Azerbaijan of "seeking to expand the geographical area of ​​the conflict."

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news